Tirumular

Thirumoolar
Thirumoolar is a great Saivite saint, some believe He is the Lord Himself. He is one of the "Arupathoomoovar Nayanmars", the sixty three saivite saints who spent their lifetime singing the praise of the Lord.

Thirumoolar's treatise, Thirumanthiram is a collection of 3000 hymns; it provides many of the Mahavakyas of Saivism.

Thirumoolar sat in meditation for 3000 years in Thiruvaduthurai, a village near Kumabkonam, TN. Every year He sang one hymn; Thirumoolar is the first saint, who sang in praise of the "Tamil" language. HIS hymn, where HE sings in praise of the Lord as "Anbe Sivam" (GOD is LOVE) is the most sublime statement; all the Nayanmars are living commentaries on this statement.
source: http://cosmic-verity.blogspot.com/2005/09/thirumoolar.html

Tirumular (also spelt Thirumoolar etc., originally known as Sundaranātha) was a Tamil Shaivite mystic and writer, considered one of the sixty-three Nayanars and one of the 18 Siddhars. His main work, the Tirumantiram (also sometimes written Tirumanthiram, Tirumandhiram, etc.), which consists of over 3000 verses, forms a part of the key text of the Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta, the Tirumurai.Life

Legend has it that Tirumular was a travelling Shaiva saint and scholar from Kailash who used his yoga powers to transmigrate into the body of a southern cowherd, Mulan. He woke up from his yogic trance once a year and composed one verse until he attained salvation.

The dates of Tirumūlar's life are hotly contested and, because his work makes reference to so many currents of religious thought, the dates that different scholars assign are often appealed to for anchoring the relative chronology of other religious literature in Tamil and Sanskrit. Verse 74 of the Tirumantiram makes the claim that Tirumūlar lived for 7 aeons (yuga) before composing the Tirumantiram.^[1] Some are therefore inclined to place his composition well before the Common Era. The scholar and lexicographer S. Vaiyapuripillai, however, suggested that he probably belonged to the beginning of the eighth-century AD, pointing out that Tirumūlar could not very well be placed earlier given that he appears to refer to the Tevaram hymns of Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar, that he used `very late words' and that he made mention of the weekdays.^[2]

Others wish to push the date still later: Dominic Goodall, for instance, appears to suggest, on the grounds of religious notions that appear in the work with Sanskrit labels for which a certain historical development can be traced in other datable works, that the Tirumantiram cannot be placed before the eleventh or twelfth century AD.^[3] Yet another view, alluded to for instance by Vaiyapuripillai (ibid.), is that the text may contain an ancient core, but with "a good number of interpolated stanzas" of later date. Whatever the case, allusions to works and ideas in the Tirumantiram cannot, at least for the moment, be used as useful indicators of their chronology.

See also

• Agastyar
• Bogar
• Thirumandhiram
• Abithana Chintamani
• Patanjali

References

1. ^ Tirumantiram A Tamil scriptural Classic. By Tirumular. Tamil Text with English Translation and Notes, B. Natarajan. Madras, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1991, p.12.
2. ^ Vaiyapuripillai's History of Tamil Language and Literature (From the Beginning to 1000 A.D.), Madras, New Century Book House, 1988 (after the first edition of 1956), particularly footnote 1 on p.78.
3. ^ See pp.xxix-xxx in a Preface (entitled Explanatory remarks about the Śaiva Siddhānta and its treatment in modern secondary literature) to The Parākhyatantra. A Scripture of the Śaiva Siddhānta, Dominic Goodall, Pondicherry, French Institute of Pondicherry and
   

External links

• Thirumoolar's SivaYoga — Thirumoolar's meditation techniques
• Thirumanthiram — Tamil version of Thirumanthiram
• Tirumantiram — English version of Thirumanthiram

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirumular#Life

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Thirumular Nyanmar

From: http://www.shaivam.org/namuular.html
In the Growing-moon crowned Lord's mount kayilai being the lead of that very ancient abode of Lord showing the righteous path to the vishNu, braHma, indra and others is the n^an^dhi. One of his disciples, vEdhAs learnt sage who attained the eight great achievements beginning from aNimA wanted to visit and stay with sage agasthyar at the podhikai mountains in thamiz land. Worshiping the Lord at kEdhAr the sage praised the pashupati at Nepal. He reached the banks of the holy river ga.nga which as a small stream falls from His vast matted Hair glittering like the lightning. Bathing in the river he saluted the Lord's avimuththam abode and proceeded towards the South. Saluting the shrishailam of sha.nkara, he reached thirukkALaththi. Praising the enchanting Everlasting Lord at thirukkALaththi entered His dancing field Alavanam and bowed down to His raised foot. He came to kAnychi worshipping Lord EkAmbaranAthar. Involving in discussions with the yOga munis of that city he left in his journey and bowed down to the Black-throated Mercy at thiruvadhikai. He arrived in the Master of Dance's thillai. With his heart brimming with love he saw the dance of the Golden Beauty that acts making the matters to exist. Staying and saluting the Lord there for some time he came to the banks of river kAviri.

Bathing in the chill refreshing water of river kAviri he went into the Lord's abode AvaduthuRai. The yOgi praised in undiminishing love the Lord of pashus there. In spite of a feeling of not leaving that holy place emerging strongly he went out of the town continuing his journey towards podhikai. But in a short distance he saw the cows crying on the Cauvery bank. mUlan a herdsman who used to take care of the cows of the village chAththanUr died when he brought the cowherds for grazing on the banks of the river. The cows out of their affection for their herdsman went around his body smelling him, licking him and crying. The yOgi who told the world that Love is Lord shiva felt he would remove their suffering by His grace. Realizing that only if mUlan came alive the cows would get consoled, he, a splendid sidhdha fortified his body and introduced his soul into the body of the herdsman through air. He rose as thirumUlar. The cows relieved of their gloom licked him in joy, went around happily grazing on the riverbanks. The merciful n^AyanAr safeguarded them till they grazed enough and returned after drinking water from the river. As the sun red in the heat went to have a dip in the ocean the cows thinking of their calves started walking back towards the village. The sage who showed a supreme path to the world calmly followed them to chAththanUr.

He waited till all the cows entered their respective houses. Wife of the herdsman mUlan saw him delaying to enter the house. Anxiously she went to touch him, but he refused saying there was no relation between them and went into a common mutt. The lady who had no offspring or relatives could not sleep throughout the night. She cried and lamented to the elderly people of the town about his new behavior. Those people of well analyzing capacity told the girl that he was neither mad nor had he any other association. He staying beyond the skewedness of mind, in the crystal clear shivayOga, in the height of glory unmeasurable for any human would not fit into relationship she had, they advised her. The sage thirumUla n^AyanAr in such a wonderful state got up and returned the way he came following the cowherd. The sage could not find the body he had kept it safe. He realized through his vision of spiritual wisdom that it was God's grace that way in order to give in thamiz through his words the supreme AgamAs that the Cool-matted haired Lord gave for this world to follow and get enlightened. He explained to the relatives who continued behind him the non-continuation of the bonds. After they all left thinking the holy feet of the Lord of Bull flag n^AyanAr went with great enthusiasm to salute the Supreme at thiruvAvaduthuRai. Sitting under the shade of arachu tree in ultimate shivayOgam he gave the holy thiruman^dhiram (1) a marvelous medicine for the illness of incarnation. Starting from 'onRavan thAnE' he completed the thamiz garland of three thousand flowers for the Lord who charmingly wears the horn of the boar. Staying on this earth for those three thousand years, a blessed time for the upbringing of humankind he reached in non-separation the holy feet of the Almighty. Let the coveted wisdom of shiva yOga of thirumUla n^AyanAr stay in the mind.

Story of Saint Tirumular

Source: http://himalayanacademy.com/blog/taka/2009/07/11/story-of-saint-tirumular/

The monks continue working on “THE SEVEN MYSTIC GURUS,” the biographical stories of the Kailasa Paramparai. Today we share the story of how Tirumular walked out of the Himalayas as decreed by his guru, Maharishi Nandinatha. He went by foot to the deep south. Our story continues;

Entering the South of India
Once released by inner orders to depart, he proceeded on to Tiruvalankadu, from where he set out to Kanchipuram, in what is now Tamil Nadu, the land of the Tamil Dravidian people, one of the oldest Caucasian races on the planet. The first temple to be visited was a Siva sanctuary in Kanchipuram representing the earth element, where the healing powers of Lord Siva are pronounced, profound and famous. It was at the earth temple that he realized that it was among the Tamil people his mission was to take place. Yet, he was troubled by the fact that his physical body was of lighter complexion, taller than the Tamils, and that he was considered to be an outsider by all, and an intruder by some. Rishi Sundaranatha was dismayed and asked Lord Siva, at the temple of the earth element, how to find his way among the people that he was sent to bring his message to–the great Vedic-Agamic truths, the synthesis of Vedanta and Siddhanta, which was later to become the treatise of all times, loved and cherished by the Tamil people from then to now, in the twenty-first century, written in cryptic poetic outpourings.

Lord Siva said, “Wait. The solution shall be revealed.” Without a definite answer to his prayers, Sundaranatha trekked off to Chidambaram deeper in the South. At Chidambaram he stayed longer, having the darshans of God Siva’s anandatandavan dance. Here the young sannyasi’s heart and soul melted in love, and here, too, he moved daily with two other of his gurubhais, brother monks of Maharishi Nandinatha–sages Patanjali and Vyaghrapada. Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras, ultimate monist, and Vyaghrapada, foremost devotee and Siva bhaktar, deeply impressed Sundaranatha, who embraced his fellow disciples who had been sent South by Nandinatha several years before. Thereafter, Sundaranatha was to become the foremost spokesman of monistic theism, the Saiva path which radiates both Patanjali’s yogic attainment and Vyaghrapada’s yogic devotion of total theistic surrender.

His brother sannyasins soon availed him of the ins and outs of the local area and community. One day, walking about as he was wont to do, he entered a dense forest. There he stumbled upon an ancient Sivalinga and immediately fell to the ground in spontaneous surrender. It was a potent Linga, but small, about 50 centimeters high in its black granite bana. Sundaranatha’s worship, so perfectly unself-conscious, so oblivious of anything but the object of his homage which was inclusive of himself in some inexplicably joyous way, empowered that once-neglected Siva icon. He continued the worship, and today this Sivalinga is enshrined in a small shrine within the 35-acre Chidambaram Temple compound.

Sundaranatha Is Given a Cowherd’s Body
Leaving his brother monks in the sleepy village of Chidambaram, he crossed the Kaveri River and reached Tiruvavaduthurai, a Saiva center which has the honor of holding the samadhi shrine of this great Natha siddhar, though present-day managers of the sacred monastery say the disposition of his actual remains is not known. Lord Siva captured him here, and he was reluctant to leave.

Walking one day on the banks of the Kaveri, he came upon a herd of cows bellowing in distress, mourning the death of their cowherd, whose body lay lifeless nearby. Sundaranatha’s compassion proved overwhelming as he felt the pain of these berieved creatures. His soul reached out to assuage their distress. Rishi Sundaranatha wanted to bring solace to the cows. Being a great adept of siddha yoga, an accomplished raja yogi, he conceived a strategy to assume the herder’s body. He first looked for a place to hide his physical body and found a hollow log. Then crawling into the log, where his body would be safe, he entered a mesmeristic, cataleptic trance, stepped out in his astral body, walked over to the dead cowherd, whose name was Mular, lay down on top of the corpse, entered it and slowly brought it back to life. The first thing he saw upon reanimating Mular’s body was one of the most favored and intelligent cows, crying big tears from both eyes. These were tears of joy. All the cows now gathered round their beloved Mular, licking his face and body with their abrasive tongues and bellowing in bovine joy. After a time, being satisfied their cowherd was alive, they began to graze as usual, and the sight gladdened the heart of our Rishi. As evening fell, the cattle began walking back to the village, leading a newly embodied Mular behind them. Mular’s wife was waiting at the village gate for her husband, who was late. The woman was alone, with neither children nor relatives. She felt a strangeness in her husband and began to weep. Sundaranatha told her he had no connection with her whatsoever, and instead of entering the home, he went back to a monastery that he had passed on the way. Mular’s wife informed the villagers of her husband’s strange behavior, soliciting their aid. They approached the monastery, speaking with her supposed husband, whose deep knowledge and presence baffled them.

Returning to Mular’s wife, they told her that far from being in a state of mental instability, as she had described, he appeared to be a Siva yogi, whose greatness they could not fathom. Mular’s wife was sorely troubled, but she was also a chaste and modest woman and reconciled herself to the fact that her husband was somehow no longer the same person, and she prayed to Lord Ganesha for help. Soon the villagers began to call the transformed cowherd Tirumular, or “holy Mular.”

Eager now to be free of this unforeseen entanglement, Rishi Sundaranatha sought out the body he had left near the pasture. Returning to the hollow log, he looked inside and found that his body was not there. He searched for days and days, looking in every hollow log he could find, and even some logs that proved not to be hollow. Finally, in desperation, he sat in padmasana upon the hollow log where he had left his North Indian body. Entering deep yoga samadhi, he contacted his guru, Maharishi Nandinatha. They mentally communicated, and the explanation was that Lord Siva Himself, through His great power of dissolution, had dissolved the atomic structure of the North Indian body after he was well settled and adjusted to his Tamilian cowherder’s body, with the boon that he could now speak fluent Tamil. Tirumular then realized that this was the answer to the prayers he offered at Kanchipuram. He saw that now he could effectively give out to the world in the Tamil language the great truths of the Saiva Agamas and the precious Vedas, uniting Siddhanta with Vedanta for all time.